Nobuo Fujita

Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese 25th Army, Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita (front), inspecting an area captured after bitter fighting. At left is Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki, Chief-of-Staff, and Staff Officer Nagai, Navy liaison officer (right). 

Malayan Campaign, 1942.

A T97 Chi Ha Japanese medium tank; Saipan, Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean, 1944.

Abandoned by Japanese Forces

Tokyo Rose

Group of Kamakazi Pilots. They were referred to as Devine Wind.

Kamakazi Group

A group of Japanese army kamikaze pilots of the 76th special unit, in front of a Nakajima Ki-27 (Allied calling code Nate) fighter.  In the battles for Okinawa, the detachment died in full force; April 1945.

Group photo of kamikaze pilots

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) fighter pilots of the 244th Sentai pose for a photo at their base at Chōfu Airfield south of Tokyo. This fighter unit was assigned to the aerial defense of Tokyo and was under the command of ace pilot Major Kobayashi (first row first on the left)

Tasked to protect Tokyo from air attack

Imperial Japanese Army Ki-21 "Sally" bombers of the 60th Sentai, over Corregidor Island for attack on U.S. positions; Philippines, March-April 1942.

Attack on Corregidor 

Captain Fumisuke Shono’s Kawasaki Ki-61-I Hei “Hien” fighter of the 244th Sentai over Tokyo Bay in February of 1945. This variant of the Hien known as the Hei model carried 2x wing mounted German made 20mm Mg151/20 cannons and 2x 12.7mm Ho-103 machine guns in the fuselage

Kawasaki Ki-61-I Hei Red 88 (Colorized)

Surrender of American troops to Japanese Forces at the island of Corregidor, Philippine Islands; May 1942.

No choice, but to surrender

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Kawasaki Ki-61-I Hei “Hien” (Allied Codename: Tony) fighter (red 88) flown by Captain Fumisuke Shono of 244th Sentai over Japan, February 1945.

Kawasaki Ki-61-I Hei “Hien” fighter 244th Sentai

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 "Zero" fighters on the flight deck of the Hiyo-class aircraft carrier Jun'yō during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19-20, 1944. 

Jun'yō's A6M5 Zero fighers 

The cew of Nakajima J1N1-S Gekko Model 11, "Red Yo-101" equipped with the FD-2 radar belonging to the Yokosuka Kokutai. Its crew consisted of Chief petty officer Yuzo Kuramoto and Ensign Shiro Kurotori. The crew are credited with 6 aerial victories all B-29s, this is proudly displayed on the port fuselage side of the aircraft. Six american stars in the upper row indicate confirmed victories, 1 B-29 shot down on April 16th, 1945 and on the night of 25/26th of May of 1945 the crew managed to down 5 B-29s in one night. The 2 stars on the bottom row indicate damaged B-29s. Picture taken at Oppama Air Base, Japan, June 1945. 

Nakajima J1N1-S Gekko Aces (1945)

Imperial Japanese Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 “Kate” carrier bomber from the carrier Zuikaku, flying over Pearl Harbor with battleship row in flames. This “Kate”, tail code EII-307, was flown by F1c Masato Hatakenaka, accompanying him were PO2c Shuichi Ueno and F1c Kingoro Oizumi; December 7th, 1941.

Over Battleship Row

A colorized image of an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Mitsubishi J2M3 Model 21 “Raiden” (Allied Codename: Jack) fighter-interceptor of the Genzan Flying Corps at Kagoshima Airbase, Japan, 1943. 

Mitsubishi J2M3 Model 21 “Raiden” fighter 

Japanese army pilots and crew of Kawasaki Ki-45 type 2 two-seat fighter before a night mission.

Before a night sortie

Imperial Japanese Navy pilots posing in front a Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 “Zero” fighter at a Japanese Airfield, (1944)

Fearless warriors of the sky

Medium Tank

A Japanese officer assigns a task to his subordinates on the road near Saigon, Vichy French Indochina. On the left, there is a convoy of Nissan 80 trucks; October 1941.

Trucks on the way to Saigon

Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto addressing troops of the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) - Japanese Marines - aboard a vessel; 194.

The Admiral and the Landing Force

A flight of IJAAF Kawasaki Ki-61 "flying swallow" fighters of the 244th Sentai in the winter of 1944-45 over Japan. The Lead plane is of Captain Teruhiko Kobayashi who was commander of the unit. Captain Kobayashi was an ace with five air victories, the 244th Sentai was the the most famous Sentai in the Japanese air defense system by the end oof the war the unit claimed 73 Allied B-29 combat “kills.”

Flight of Ki-61s 1944-45

An assembly line of nearly completed Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Zero fighters at the Nakajima Aircraft Company’s factory in Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, Japan circa 1941. This factory would later be critically damaged by American bombardment on February 10, 1945. Currently it is a Subaru Corporation plant for kei trucks.

Japanese Aircraft Factory during WW2 (1941)

Imperial Japanese Navy dive bomber pilot Lieutenant Kiyoto Furuta, he was one of the few IJNAS aviators to take part in the Attack on Pearl Harbor and survive the war. In 2 separate occasions he scored hits with a 550 pound bomb on the US Navy fleet carrier Enterprise at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and at the Battle of Santa Cruz during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Lieutenant Kiyoto Furuta

A IJNAS Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Fighter of the 653rd kokutai, 165th hikotai, at Oita Naval Training Air Base, Japan. September 1944

Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zero 

A Japanese soldier with a white bird (dove) on his Arisaka Type 99 rifle.

Japanese Forces

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